Another game cleared from THE BACKLOG !!

Onto business...

UNCHARTED: DRAKE'S FORTUNE REVIEW

Uncharted 1 is a game I played back in 2007 over Christmas vacation at my bro's house. I remember having a good time, but not much else. With Uncharted 2 out, I decided now would be good time to re-familiarize myself with Nathan Drake's first adventure.

DISCLAIMER: This is 2009 review of Uncharted 1. Meaning that I'm reviewing this game with today's price ( $20 or so ) and current games in mind.

LOVED

Narrative: Uncharted's tale about a treasure hunt does not tread any new ground, but Naughty Dog did an excellent job making it entertaining. Uncharted plays out like a Summer Blockbuster movie, full with ( tons of ) action, comedy, and a little romance. Just a well-crafted story that's easy to enjoy and not confusing. The voice acting is also well done.

Visual Design: Most of Uncharted takes place in and around ancient ruins surround by a tropical jungle. A great setting for displaying the PS3's graphical prowess. Lush jungle vegetation, detailed & crumbling ruins, gorgeous oceanic vistas, realistic lighting effects, and detailed character models all make Uncharted a treat for your eyes. A true showcase for the PS3's potential.

Gameplay: Uncharted has 2 aspects to its gameplay; Platformer and 3rd Person Shooter. I wasgoing to list just Platforming here, but I did enjoy the shooting too, just not as much. The platforming segments are never difficult, but always fun. The shooting segments can be frustrating, yet still enjoyable. All in all, Uncharted is just a fun game to play. Very few parts are frustrating.

Audio Design: An audio treat for anyone fortunate enough to own a sound system capable of receiving a DTS ( or higher ) signal. A great use of blu-ray extra storage capacity.

Trophies: ....lots of them. Uncharted doles out Trophies early and often. It's great.

HATED

Button Mapping: ....or lack thereof. Why oh why do PS3 devs map shooting to the R1 button when R2 is more akin to a trigger? And really, how difficult is it to allow custom button mapping for a game? This complaint is a pet peeve of mine, but any gun shooting on PS3 should automatically be mapped to the R2 button.

Replayability: Unless you are captivated by this game, you'll find there's little replayability to be had. The only reason this is a complaint is because Uncharted can be completed in under 10hrs (with a max of 12hrs). It's like a rollercoaster: Very fun, yet over too quickly.

Sponge Enemies / Gun-Play: The enemies Nathan faces are some tough dudes. Some of them literally take half an AK-47 clip to die. So what happens in the numerous gun fights is you exhaust your current weapons' ammo and then round around (while being shot at) searching for more ammo or new guns. I dunno....something just felt "off" about Uncharted's gun-play to me. Still enjoyable, just not as polished as it could've been.

Grenades: Powerful, yet almost useless. Throwing grenades is done by holding down the L1 button while tilting the controller up or down (for distance), then pressing R1 to throw it. Horrible, horrible implementation of SIXAXIS controls. Thus, I rarely threw grenades in this game.

CONCLUSION

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a proper showcase not only of the PS3's potential, but also of Naughty Dog's talent. For the 10 or hours the game lasts, you'll be treated to gorgeous graphics, superb DTS audio, fun gameplay, and an entertaining story that will keep you glued to your HDTV. Unfortunately, once that 10hr thrill-ride is over, there is little to come back to.

An excellent start to the franchise...

SCORE: 8.5 / 10.0

Time Played: About 10hrs

Trophy Detail: 52% Collected

GAMING UPDATE

Now that Uncharted 1 is finally done, the next game up is.....

Yeah, I'm a Halo fan who still loves Halo3 MP. So Halo3 ODST was made for a gamer like myself. I've had this game since launch, but I've only played the Halo3 MP disc. With Modern Warfare 2 coming out next week, I figured I should finish ODST's campaign before I become engrossed in MW2 for a while.

I plan to play on Heroic, which, according to the reviews, should take me about 7hrs to finish. I should have this done before MW2 drops next week.

WORK-OUT UPDATE

Still going fine and losing weight. I've lost about 10 lbs so far! My work-out schedule has stayed roughly the same: Gym 3x a week, Racquetball 1x a week and running every morning before work.

Hopefully, I can lose another 5 lbs or so by January.

Well, that's it for now. Until I blog again with my ODST review, these will be the games I'm playing:

Halo3 ODST - Heroic solo playthrough

Madden10 (X360)

SFIV (PS3)

Modern Warfare 2 (X360)

RE5 (X360 co-op only)

THANKS FOR READING MY BLOG!